Safety device for elevator doors



Jan. 27, 1931 H. w. SHONNARD Filed March 17, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet l XXV/ J AA V662 XXV/Q2 Jan. 27, 1931.

H. W. SHONNARD SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATOR DOORS Filed March 1'7, 1925 .3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 27, 1931. H. w. SHONNARD SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATOR DOORS Filed March 17 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 struction are used.

Patented Jan. 2 7 1931 TUNITED STATES HAROLD w. sHonN nn, or nonrcrnrn, NEW annsninssrenonfroEL VATOR sun;-

PLIES COMPANY, rno.,n "oonronarrou OFkNEWiJER-SEY I H SAFETY nnvrcn reorv nrinvnron noons Application filed March 17, 1925/ Serial i I I- Thepresent invention has relation to means for preventing inpuries to passengers arising from accidental contact with the fold ing or collapsible doors customarily used on elevators in ofiice buildin s, depots, factories etc. and, indeed, in any locality where sliding doors of'the'common lazy-tongs co1'1- Collapsible doors of the lazy-tongsWtype are very extensively used in'elevators and in other places where rigid economyof space is requisite; and, while doors and gates of this type present the advantage of a maximum of economy in'space, they are nevertheless, a source of recognized danger, in that the folding bars of whi'chthey are constructed will catch and 'inj ure theclothing or fingers of-any person who by carelessness orjovercrowding is pressed against them.

This 'danger' is especially emphasized in modern-elevators, both because these conveyances are often crowdedin-the rush hours,

and because these doors, are often operated automatically by machinery, so thatithey are not under the complete control of the oper- V ators. In consequence injury to passengers often results from their use, and it is the object of the present invention to guard against this source of danger, and to prevent the catching of the'persons or clothing of passengers by doors or gates of the character mentioned.

For this purpose I provide a flexible mantle or curtain on the inside of the door or gate, together with automatic means for keeping the same always stretched in a position to p prevent any object from being thrust in between the folding bars of which the door is Preferably this mantle or curtain is against which thereis. danger of contact with the person or clothing of a passenger, leaving adequate space above or below,1or both above and below the guard or curtain'to prevent an unobstructed view from within outward or from without inward. 5

I The invention is illustrated in a preferred form in the accompanying drawings, whereinFlgure l. 1s:a new n elevatlon of an elevastructure comprisingtwoof such guards.

clothing or persons of passengers.

partly in section'and partly in-elevation of the preferred form of curtain roller and guard,.jFigure 3 is a plan view of the device 7 shown in Figure 2, and Figure tiisa horizontal sectional view of the same vtaken on the .line H of Figure 2.

My invention ,covers the use of a single guard or curtain in combination with a folding door of the character already mentioned, but, as it may also be embodied in;a structure comprising a plurality ofsuch-guards or curtains,l have illustrated the invention, by Way of example, in Figure 1, as embodied'in a will,of course, be understood that, where it is f' found desirable to employ more than two such guards or ourtains,the invention will be of vertical bars 1O, united by slidable, pivoted crossed bars 11 and extends entirely across the open ng in the cageas shown. These are supported by and move upon a framework 12 of "dimensions suitedto the particular purpose in' hand. The opening and closing of this door may be accomplished by hand: utilizing the handle 13, orany automatic'means maybe used for the purpose, i

In order to prevent the danger of catching the clothing or hands or fingers of those located near thegate, by the movable bars, I rovide one or more guards or curtains 14, which cover those portions of the gate which are likely to come into contact with the This curtain may be made of any suitable fabric, or of leather, flexible metal, oreof any material or construction which will answer the purparts of thedoor as are likely to be asource of danger, as shown in Figure 1. This makes it still possible-fora person on either'side of the door or gate'to see what is going on upon the other side. i

Means are provided whereby the guards 'or curtains 14 are kept continually stretched fiat against the doors or gates whatever the position of the latter and for this purpose I prefer a self-containedunitary mounting exemplified the structure shownf in detail in Figures 2, 3 and 4. 1

The curtain 14 is secured to and rolls upon aroller 15, a part at least "of which is hollow, so as to accomii odate'a spiral spring 16. The plate 17 at one end of the roller is revolubly mounted upon afi xed pin 18,-'whi ch 7 has a non-circular portion 19 fitting removably into a similarly shaped socket 20 in'the head 21. At the opposite end of the roller, a'plate 22 isprov'idedwith a pin 23, turning in a bearing- 24- iri'the hea'd 2'5f, The weight of the rolleris preferably" carried by the ball bearings 26. The head 21 is secured by screws 27 to the vertical support 28,-to'the opposite "end of which is also" secured the head'25, by the screws'29. Thesupport'28 is secured in any desired manner to'a suit-- able support, as for instance one of the vertical bars 10 of the door or gate, (see Fig- 1 metal guard 30. This guard is preferably secured at its ends to the heads 21 and 25.

constitute, with the curtain 14, a unitary The structure so'described will be seen to structure capableof ready application to'any door or gate. This'structure may be secured either to the gate'as shown or to any convenient support near the gate. r 1

One end of the spring 16 is fixed'to the roller 15, as at 33 and the other to the nonrotata'ble pin 18' (see, Figure 2) and this spring is so arranged as to be tightened or wound up when the curtain 14 is unrolled.

The effort of thespring tends, therefore,-

at all times to roll the curtain upon the roller 15, so that as the door, to which the'forward edge of the curtain is attached, is slid back and forthin closing and unclosing, the curtain 1'4'is always kept'stretched fiatagainst the door.

Where the width of the door is not toog'reat it will be sufficient to supply one curtain of this kind with its forwardedge secured to the door. Where, however, the full movement of the door is so great that "asingle curtain would tend to between its ends, two or more curtains may be used, as shownin Figure 1. y g f The embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings show two curtains arranged in tandem relation, each of which is mounted entirely and solely Within the elevator cage, and so arranged that the forward curtain winds and unwinds at one end thereof, saidvv end being disposed within the casing 30 in Fig. 1 at approximately the center of thegate 9. The other end of the forward curtain-14 is shown as fixed to the free endthat is, the end where the handle 18is locatedof the gate 9. It will be noted fur.- ther that this forward curtain 14 extends from adjacent the cage floor to another point substantially level with the handle 13 of the cage 9. The rear curtain 14 likewise extends from adjacent the cage floor to a similar height on the gate 9. The use of two curtains arranged in tandem as illustrated 1s, I believe, a novel feature of this'invention,

but it is of course not the only novel'feature.

Other novel features reside in the construction and method of mounting each curtain, and such construction andmounting meansis employed in each installation irrespective of the number of curtains in the installation.

The use of a plurality of curtains in tandem improves'the structure by making it possible to keep the curtains flat by the use of-rela- :t'ively weaksprings and thereby prevents undue interference wlth the counterbalanc-.

totaldeflection is-approximately one-half of the total deflection which would be necessary in the case of a single spring. Moreover, compactness 1S attained inasmuch asthe curtains roll upon two 'roll'ers, andhence the increase in diameter-of'eachof the rolled cur-' tains is approximately one-half of a corresponding length single curtain rolled on" a single roll. Tl1isfeature isfurthermore of importance in a construction where the winding spring is'contained within the roller,- as the lighter spring and lesserdiaineter of rolled curtain both contribute to theconhpactness of the device. 1

Where this arrangement is found necessary, I prefer to connect the respective curtains in tandem in the manner shown in, detail in the drawings; :One curtain roller is secured to the stationary part of the d0or,-as shown at the right hand sideof Figure 1, while the next roller-is fixed to a vertical bar at a properpoint in the gate. Of course the roller may be mounted upon an'y'fixed struc ture at the stationary end of the door or gate, as,--for instance the wall of anelevatorcage.

The free edge of therighthandcurtain 14 is preferably carried aroundat' flat connecting bar 35, secured parallel with the supporting bar 28 of the next roller, and then stitched as at 36'.- Any mode of attachment suited to the nature of thepartioular guard or curtain its.

used is within the invention. It will also be understood that the principle of multiple curta ns exemplified in the drawings by showing only two, can be extended for any number. i

i In some cases it may be found desirable to 7 provide means for holding the flexible guard or curtain against the gate at a a point or points between the edge of the curtain and the roller. For this purpose I prefer to use a bar 37 extending across the guard and fastened at top and bottom above and below the guard, to one of the vertical bars of which the gate is made.

A variety of changes may be made in the structure and arrangement herein shown without departing from the scope of my invention, which is not limited to the details herein shown and described. I

lVhat I claim is 1. A single collapsible gate in combinatio with a plurality of spring-actuated rollers mounted in tandem relation thereon, and a guard curtain mounted on each roller having its free end fixed to the gate, said guardcura tains extending in tandem arrangement horizontally across said gate androlling on and off of said rollers to shorten and lengthen.

with the collapsing and extension of the collapsible gate. 7

2. A single collapsible gate in combination with a plurality of spring-actuated rollers mounted in tandem relation thereon, and a guard curtain mounted on each roller hav-v ing its free end fixed to the gate, said guard curtains extending in tandem arrangement horizontallyacross said gate and rolling on and off of said rollers to shorten and lengthen with the collapsing and extension of the collapsible gate, one of said curtain rollers being mounted at the stationary end of said gate, and a second spring roller mounted directly upon an intermediate portion of the gate is opened and closed, said curtain betending across thegate, a. plurality of spring rollers on which said curtains wind and unwind in opening and closing said gate, one at least of said plurality of rollers being mounted on saidgate and having'its curtain 7 also fixed vat its free end to said gate, said rollers each having a spring adapted to maintain saidcurtains taut during-winding and unwinding, said springs opposing less'resistanceto the "force required for opening said gate than a single spring for; aint i i ta t a curtain of a length equaling the combinedlength of the tandem curtains.

5. The combination'of a collapsible gate collapsible gate, flexible curtains'extending in tandem arrangement horizontallycrossw se of the gate,'autoniat1c stretching means for said curtains, one of said automatic stretching-means-being on. said mounting,

and means on said mountingfo r'attachin the end of an adjacent curtain."

6. The combinationof' a collapsible gate r se and an automatic guard therefor of the char- J acter described, comprising a: curtainmount ing attached to an intermedlate part ofsald collapsiblegate,=fiexible curtains extending a in tandem arrangement horizontally cr0sswise of the gate-{automatic stretching means for said curtains; one of said automatic stretching'meansbeing on said mounting, a

and a=rodj running lengthwise of. and attached to said mounting, foriattaching the end of an 'adjacent curtain.

ing attached to-anjintermediate part of said collapsible gate," flexible curtains, extending in tandem arrangement horizontally cross-' wise of the gate, automatic stretching means for said curtain, one of said automatic stretchlng means belng on sald mounting, and

means onsaid mounting for attaching the end of an adjacent curtain, said automatic stretching means comprising a spring roller in said 7 mounting, and a guard partiallysurrounding said spring roller. 8. An automatic guard for a collapsible gate of the character described, comprising, a 1 v flexible curtain extending horizontally cross? wise of the gate, automatic stretching means therefor, a guard partially surrounding said automaticstretching means, and a retaining bar for the curtain fixed to and moving with the gate and adaptedto preserve a uniform relative distance fromthe ends of the curtain when the gate is opened and closed, said ourtain being slidable within said retaining bar.

9. In combination with the collapsible gate of an elevator car, of aninterior flexible guard curtain secured to the free end of the e; gate at one end, and including a spring roller upon which said guard curtain is wound,

bearings for said roller, a guard for the roller and means for securing said guard in a posi- 4- r 9 27 c I tion protecting said roller and curtain wound thereon; 10. In combination with a collapsiblegate, of a flexible protecting device therefor spaced from thetop and bottom of said gate, includ inga spring roller upon which said protectingr device is wound; bearings for the; roller, and a guard for the-roller, adapted to be held in a position protecting said roller and 10 curtain-wound thereon. 1 a

'11. In combination with a collapsiblegate, of a guard curtain therefor, including a spring roller upon which; said curtain is wound, bearings; for the roller, a support to which said bearings are secured, a guard for the roller supported inpositionito protect said roller and curtain wound-thereon', a reinforcing curved bracket for the guard, and means forsecuring it to the support. 2O 12. In combination; with the collapsible gate of anelevator car,-an-interior guard curtain having one end secured to the free end or" the gate,- a support, plates secured to the ends of the support and provided with bearings, a spring roller mounted in said bearings upon which the curtain is adapted to be wvound, a'senii cylindrical guard for the roll- 7 er, and means for securing said guard to said 7 plates f 1 0 In .testimony'whereof I' have hereto afiixed my'signature. 3A V HAROLD SHONNARD. 

